


An Apple a Day

by FortunesRevolver



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Being... Zaveid., M/M, Most of this is Zaveid., Pairing is sort of a minor part., That should say it all.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-20
Updated: 2015-11-20
Packaged: 2018-05-02 13:03:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5249222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FortunesRevolver/pseuds/FortunesRevolver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Sorey goes to Zaveid for "relationship advice" and it quickly spirals out of control. Between pillows and fruit, perhaps he really was better off just following his instincts. [Non-spoilery; minor pairing implications.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Apple a Day

"Come on, Shep. You gotta throw more _passion_ into it.” Zaveid grins as he throws an arm around Sorey’s shoulders and tugs him forward, nearly crashing their heads together. “You won’t _wow_ any babes like that.”

“Passion…?” Sorey cranes his neck, trying to better look at Zaveid’s face despite their close proximity. “Should I talk to them about ruins first?”

“Wha—no!” Zaveid sighs and releases Sorey as he takes a step back and readjusts Sorey’s grip on the inn-provided pillow. “You’re trying to _woo_ ,not put someone to sleep.”

“But we both really--”

“Not the point.” A hand against his mouth cuts Sorey off before he can finish and Zaveid sighs heavily. “If you want to _impress_ ,you have to be gentle, but passionate. Strong, but not too forceful. It’s the coming together of two souls in a gesture of pure—what?”

“I… I think you lost me,” Sorey admits as he fidgets and squeezes his pillow. “Are we still talking about the same thing?”

“Of course we—just forget it.” Slumping lazily into the inn’s desk chair, Zaveid brings his head forward to rest in his palm as he eyes Sorey in amusement. “Come on, just try again. Show me how you kissed someone back home.”

“Um…” Sorey hesitates and Zaveid’s eyes widen as his lips part and a strangled noise follows.

“What? Seriously? _Never?”_ The sheepish smile on Sorey’s face is answer enough and Zaveid almost wants to groan. He knew he was dealing with a newbie, but he didn’t think it was quite _this_ bad. “I can’t believe it… Man, Sorey, you really _are_ pure.”

Sorey’s lips purse in a pout, and he’s not sure if the statement is meant to be a compliment or an insult. Knowing Zaveid’s habits, it’s probably best to ignore, but he can’t help but feel a slight rush of embarrassment from it.

“Th-that’s not true!” He’s not entirely sure why he’s bothering to protest, it’ll just egg Zaveid on, but it’s not like he’s _never_ kissed someone before. The one time he has seems irrelevant when it’s the very thing he’s come for help with in the first place. “I mean… I have… Once.”

“Oh?” Zaveid’s eyes are sparkling again as he leans forward, eager. “Tell me the deets! Where? When? Who?!”

“Um, well...” Sorey pauses, thinking back. “I think we were… five?”

“Niiice. Nice!” Zaveid begins to nod, clearly pleased with the answer. “An early bloomer.”

“We were in my room--”

“Oh _man!_ ” Zavied’s chin is back in his palm, but one of his legs bounces with excitement. “Maybe our Shepard isn’t so pure after all.”

"And it was Mikleo."

A dull thud bounced off the walls as Zaveid’s head hits the surface of the desk and he groans in frustration. Concern briefly flickers across Sorey’s face, but his attention quickly returns back to his pillow and he starts to lean in, wondering if he can properly perform the ‘passion’ Zaveid was insisting he needed.

“At least use something better than a pillow.” A new voice joins the conversation and Sorey jumps as he swivels to stare at the Seraph he hadn’t felt leave his mind. “Even Meebo isn’t _that_ soft.”

“But I--” Sorey struggles to find an excuse, a reason, anything to save him from the mirth building behind Edna’s smirk, but he falls short and can’t respond before she continues.

“What about an Apple? Fruit would fit better anyway.”

“Edna!” Lailah appears and Sorey is tempted to simply bury his face in the very pillow he’s been ‘practicing’ with. Her arms are crossed with a stern tone, but the glimmer in her eyes is enough to give everything away. She’s just as amused as everyone else. “Don’t tease Sorey when he’s trying so hard. We have to be kind and nurturing when they reach this stage.”

“I don’t see what the big deal is.” Edna shrugs and twirls her parasol over her shoulder, her tone indifferent as ever. “Why don’t one of you show him yourselves? That would be ‘nurturing,’ wouldn’t it?”

_“Edna!”_

“Sorry, little lady, but Sorey’s not my kind of babe. That’s not under the job details of a wingman.”

“Um, hey guys?” Sorey’s voice is uncertain, but not lacking in volume as he tries to talk over the squabbling Seraphim. “Can we… focus a little? He’ll be back at any moment and--”

Zaveid’s focus comes quickly, but Edna only rolls her eyes before disappearing in a brief flash. Lailah lingers only a few moments longer. There’s a knowing look in her eyes as she walks over and gives Sorey’s shoulder a gentle squeeze and wishes him luck quietly. Before he can reply, she’s gone, and he’s left blinking owlishly at the empty space she once occupied.

“Right, right… Anyway, where were we?” Zaveid leans, slumping lazily back in his chair as he regards Sorey with a hand on his chin.

“…apples?”

“You’re not _seriously_ gonna start practicing on that, are you?” Zaveid stares at the red fruit Sorey had picked up from the small basket of fruit on the small table in the corner. He eyes it dubiously and wonders just how hopeless this cause really is. Sorey isn’t as quite as receptive to hints as he’d hoped, and somehow, he can’t help but think _his_ area of expertise is somewhat lost in their stark difference in preferences.

“…it might work better than the pillow,” Sorey muses, turning the fruit over in his hand. It’s much firmer than the pillow and far easier to hold. It even smells nice, and while the crisp aroma isn’t quite right, just like Mikleo, it smells sweet. “And I guess the shape is a little better too.”

Zaveid scrunches up his nose and releases a sigh. It’s not his ideal means of practice, but if it works any better than the pillow, they might be in business. “Whatever works.” Edna _did_ have a point about fruit earlier, after all. “Now, we were just about to move on to tongues.”

“…tongues?”

“Tongues.” Zaveid repeats, and something about his grin makes Sorey feel uneasy. “You gotta use your tongue and--”

“Are you two _still_ at it?” Sorey nearly drops the apple and finds himself turning sharply once again. Leaning against the doorway, Rose stares at both of them with arms crossed in exasperation.

“Oh, Rose!” Sorey offers a strained smile as he holds up his apple. “I… well, yeah… I guess we are.” He laughs quietly and rubs his neck, embarrassed. “I don’t think I’m quite getting what Zaveid is saying.”

“Ugh, geez… You’re both hopeless.” Pushing off the door, Rose crosses the room with ease and grasps Sorey’s shoulders. “You just have to do _this._ ”

Sorey’s cry of alarm is muffled as Rose leans in and Zaveid wolf-whistles from the desk. “Whoa! So Rose is the type to take command? Nice! Maybe we could exchange notes sometime.”

“Wh… Rose?” Sorey’s mouth hangs open as they finally part, his expression bemused as Rose meets it with one of relaxed indifference.

“What?” Rose shrugs, a hand on her hip as she continues without paying mind to Zaveid’s jests. “The apple wasn’t working, right?” She nods to the fruit in his hand, and Sorey makes a half-hearted effort to hide it behind his back.

“I, well, that’s…”

“I mean, it’s just Mikleo.” Rose’s shrugs again and re-crosses her arms, looking at Sorey as if what she’s saying is something he should have already known. In a sense, it is. “It doesn’t matter what works for these guys. Just ignore whatever this airhead is telling you and do what feels natural.”

“Natural…” Sorey repeats, the word slow and careful, almost like he’s tasting it as he looks down thoughtfully at his apple. “Huh.”

“Aw, come on!” Zaveid tries to protest, not wanting to be left in the dust. He _is_ a self-proclaimed expert on this subject. “I totally know what I’m talking about.”

“And what _are_ you talking about?” All three occupants of the room turn this time to see Mikleo where Rose was moments ago. His lips are pursed in a thin frown, his gaze moving between each of them in turn. “What’s going on in here?”

“Yo! Mikkiboy!” Zaveid is grinning again. “I was just teaching Sorey here how to--”

“Mikleo!” Sorey makes it across the room before Zaveid can even step around Rose. “There you are.”

“…I said I’d be back in an hour. It hasn’t even been _that_ long.” Mikleo’s eyebrows draw closer together as Sorey beams at him. It’s not an _unusual_ occurrence, but the apple being pressed into one hand as Sorey grabs the other is new. “What-?”

“Come on,” Sorey’s smile only grows as he pulls Mikleo from the room. “Let’s go for a walk outside the city. I want to show you something.”

**Author's Note:**

> And then they made out under a tree where no one could question exactly what it was Sorey was doing to the empty space next to him. Or something. And Zaveid got all his "deets" from the wind. Or tried to. Rose probably stepped in and kept him distracted.
> 
> I think this was inspired by an off-hand comment Mikleo made to Sorey in an RP I was doing with a friend about how Sorey's "pillow practice" was paying off. It just evolved from there and... I don't even know, honestly. It's almost 4am and I need to start writing at a better time.
> 
> Edit: Typos probably fixed this time. Probably. It's still after 4am and I should sleep soon.


End file.
